Suction cleaner diffuser



May 1, 1962 T. BRIMBERG ETAL 3,031,826

SUCTION CLEANER DIFFUSER Filed Nov. 24, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 1, 1962 T. BRIMBERG ET AL 3,031,826

SUCTION CLEANER DIFFUSER Filed Nov. 24, 1959 V 2 Sheets-$heet 2 INYENTORS 3,3l,82ii Patented May 1, 1962 fitice 3,031,826 SUCTION CLEANER DIFFUSER Torsten Brirnberg, Bandhagen, and Felix Tiidt, Sundbyberg, Sweden, assignors to Aktiebolaget Electrolux,

Stockholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Filed Nov. 24, 1959, Ser. No. 855,044 Claims priority, application Sweden Nov. 28, 1958 2 Claims. (Cl. 55-492) Our invention relates to suction cleaners, and more particularly to dilfusers employed to receive air flowing from such cleaners at a relatively high velocity which offectively diffuse and gently discharge such air in a multiplicity of directions without disturbing settled dust in an enclosure being cleaned.

The object of our invention is to provide an improved diffuser of this type having air-permeable material in sheet form united to a body member which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture.

Further objects and advantages of our invention will become apparent as the following description proceeds, and the features of novelty which characterize the invention will be pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this specification.

For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a suction cleaner to which the invention has been applied;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View of the suction cleaner illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken at line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional View of parts shown in FIG. 3 to illustrate details more clearly;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary view taken at line 55 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary view, partly in section, illustrating form of detachable connection which difiers from that shown in FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawing, our invention is shown applied to a horizontal tank-type suction cleaner 19 having a casing 11 which is provided with a handle 12 and runners 14 that extend lengthwise of the casing and are fixed to the cleaner in any suitable manner to facilitate movement thereof on a supporting surface. A front end cover 15, partly shown in FIG. 1, is provided for the casing to close the access opening of a space within which a dust bag (not shown) is adapted to be positioned. The cover 15 is formed with an opening 16 to which a flexible hose (not shown) is adapted to be connected.

A motor-fan unit (not shown) is located within the casing 11 at a region adjacent the dust bag, such unit including a centrifugal fan carried at one end of an electric motor. The motor-fan unit is controlled by a switch (not shown) which is arranged to be actuated by a button 17 located at the top of the casing 11. When the suction cleaner is being operated, dust-laden air is drawn through the suction hose into the interior of the casing 11. During the cleaning operation, dust collects in the dust bag, and air free of such dust passes through the dust bag and thereafter is discharged through an opening 18 in a rear end cover 19 which is eccentrically disposed with respect to the axis of the casing 11.

In accordance with our invention, a diffuser 20 is attached to the air discharge opening 18 of the cleaner It so that when the suction cleaner is in a horizontal position, as illustrated in FIG. 1, air flowing at a relatively high velocity from the cleaner through the opening 13 is effectively diffused and gently discharged in a multiplicity of directions from the ditiuser. The diffuser 26 comprises a hollow neck or tubular section 21 and a number of spaced ribs 22 which are distributed about the tubular section and extend radially and axially therefrom, the ribs being inclined to the axis of the diffuser and sloping from the end of the tubular section 21 to which they are fixed at the outwardly extending flange 23. The outer ends of the ribs 22 are fixed at 24 to one arm 25a of a ring-shaped part or rirn 25 formed to provide a groove having a base 25b. The other arm 25c of the rim 25 extends toward the axis of the diffuser and is inclined axially to the latter in a direction from the tubular section 21, as best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The diffuser 20 is provided with two sheets 26 and 27 of porous material which are permeable to air and preferably microporous in character. The sheet 25, which is apertured, is positioned against the inner surfaces 22a of the ribs 22 with its inner periphery integrally joined at 26a to the flange 23 of tubular part 21 and its outer periphery integrally joined at 2611 to the inner surface of arm 25a of the grooved rim 25 at a region closely adjacent to its base 25b. The sheet 27, when the suction cleaner it) is being operated and air is being discharged from the air outlet 1%, assumes the convex position illustrated in FiGS. 1 and 3. The outer periphery of the sheet 27 is bent back upon itself and its peripheral edge 27a is integrally joined at 271) to the inside surface of the arm 250 of the grooved rim 25, while a region 27c of the sheet 27 is integrally joined at 27d to the inner surface of the base 25b of the grooved rim 25. When the suction cleaner is not being operated and air is not being discharged from the air outlet 18, the sheet 27 is movable from the convex position illustrated in FIG. 3 to a concave position in intimate physical contact with the apertured sheet 26. With this construction the sheet 27 is loose and in an unstressed condition when the diffuser 2b is not in use and less likely to be injured or damaged in normal handling and shipping.

The tubular section 21, which may be resilient and flexible in character, is provided with a groove 21a of annular form intermediate its ends and a portion Zlb which desirably is tapered to facilitate its attachment to and removal from the discharge outlet 18. As seen in FIG. 2, the groove 21a is firmly held in position at the edge of the outlet 18 formed in the apertured rear end cover 19.

The diffuser 2%) may be formed of a single body of material in which the tubular section 21, ribs 22 and rim 25 are integrally joined to one another. When the diffuser 24) is formed in such manner from a suitable thermoplastic, such as polyethylene, for example, the sheets 26 and 27 of air-permeable material may be positioned in cooperating parts of a two-part die or mold provided with suitable cavities and passages adapted to receive polyethylene in a fluid or relatively soft state by injection or similar manner. The difi user 20 may be readily formed in this manner which possesses the advantage that when the diffuser cools and solidifies, the polyethylene has become united and bonded to the porous sheets 26 and 27 at 26a, 26b, 27b and 27d and at 22a to the inner surfaces of the ribs 22. A diffuser body so formed is relatively strong and rugged and separation of the sheets 26 and 27 from the rim 25 and separation of the sheet 26 from the tubular section 21 and ribs 22 do not occur when the diffuser 20 is attached to a suction cleaner and air is being discharged therethrough. Thus, a simple fabricated construction is obtained in which the porous sheets 26 and 27 are well sealed to the difiuser body and joining of the sheets 26 and 27 to the body by an adhesive or other suitable material in a separate operation is unnecessary.

By forming the tubular section 21 of a material like polyethylene so that a soft and elastic neck or connecting portion 21 is provided, the neck can readily be distorted when attached to and detached from the outlet 19 which facilitates its connection to and removal from the suction cleaner li When the suction cleaner is being operated, one lateral edge of the grooveZla is forced against the peripheral edge of the outlet 18 formed in the end cover 19 to provide a good air-tight seal between these parts.

A tank-type suction cleaner is often placed in an upright position on a floor or other supporting surface with the rear end cover 19 serving as a base for the cleaner, the outlet 18 in such case being removed from the floor to allow air to be discharged from the cleaner. By providing a difiuser 20 like that illustrated and described which is resilient and elastic in character and formed from a thermoplastic like polyethylene, a tanktype suction cleaner to which the diffuser 29 is attached can be supported in an upright or vertical position without damage to the diffuser. Since the diffuser body may be formed of a material which is elastic in character, the diffuser can be attached to the outlet 19 simply by moving the tubular section inwardly at the outlet. The diffuser 20 can readily be removed simply by grasping the rim 25 and pulling the diffuser 2i away from the rear end cover 19, which will distort the neck portion 21 and release it from the discharge outlet 18.

The air-permeable material of which the sheets 26 and 27 are formed may be felted fiber alone or with added binders and/or solvents. The addition of binders and/ or solvents may be desirable when the material includes a constituent like synthetic fiber, for example. While we have indicated above that a thermoplastic like polyethylene possesses physical properties which are eifectively utilized in fabricating the diffuser 2d of the invention, it should be understood that other materials, such as rubber or metal or a combination of suitable materials, may be used.

In FIG. 6 we have illustrated another form of attachment for the diifuser 20 in which the discharge outlet 18a of the suction cleaner is of tubular form and is formed with an internal groove 18!; of annular form adapted to receive a ridge or projection-21c of cylindrical form provided about the periphery of the tubular section or neck 21d of the diffuser. By providing a tubular section 21d which is elastic and resilient in character, the tubular section can be readily attached to and removed from the air discharge outlet 18a of the suction cleaner.

When the diffuser 21 is attached to a suction cleaner in the manner shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the cleaner is being operated, air'fiows through the outlet 18 at a relatively high velocity. In the diifuser 20, whose hollow interior is defined by both the air-permeable sheets 26 and 27 each having an overall cross-sectional area that is materially greater than that of the air outlet 18, the air is subdivided into a multiplicity of tiny air streams which are discharged gently from the outer surfaces of the sheets in a multiplicity of directions, as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 2. Thus, the velocity of the air discharged from the air-permeable microporous sheets 26 and 27 is relatively low and the air stream is ineffective to disturb settled dust in the immediate vicinity of the diffuser.

A ditfuser'like the one described and illustrated has beenconstructed, the hollow tubular section 21 of which is about l inches in diameter and the rim 25 about 4 1 inches in diameter. In this constructionthe diam- 4 eter of the rim 25 is more than twice that of the tubular section 21, and the microporous sheets 26 and 27 have an overall area sufiicient' to reduce the velocity of the air discharged from the cleaner so that settled dust in the vicinity of the diffuser will not be disturbed.

Although we have illustrated and described particular embodiments of our invention, we desire not to be limited to the particular arrangements set forth, and we intend in the following claims to cover all modifications which do not depart from the spirit'and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. For use with a suction cleaner having a passage for circulating and flowing air there-through, an article or" the class described comprising a plurality of parts including a hollow ring-shaped collar, rib structure comprising a plurality of ribs distributed about said collar and extending outward therefrom and an outer ring-shaped rim, said ribs at their inner and outer ends being integrally joined to said collar and to said outer rim, respectively, the

inner ends of said ribs joined to said collar being spaced from one another and the outer ends of said ribs joined to said outer rim being spaced from one another, said collar being adapted to be detachably connected to the cleaner to receive air being circulated and fiowing'through the passage, a first apertured sheet of air-permeable material overlying said ribs and having its outer and inner peripheral edges integrally joined to said outer rim and to said collar, respectively, narrow radially extending regions of said first sheet between its inner and outer peripheral edges being integrally joined to said ribs, a second sheet of air-permeable material positioned over said first sheet and having its outer. periphery integrally joined to said outer rim, said outer rim havingspaced sides defining a groove with one side overlying a portion of said first sheet and the other side overlying a portion of said second sheet, said first and second sheets defining a space adapted to receive air flowing through the passage, said ribs integrally joined to said first sheet being disposed exteriorly of said space, and said second sheet, in the absence of air flowing through the passage, being movable into intimate physical contact with said'first sheet.

2. An article as set forth in claim 1 in which said collar, ribs and outer rim are formed of the same material possessing such physical. properties that said ribs and outer rim are bendable and flexible and said collar is elastic and distortable to facilitate its connection to and removal from the cleaner.

' References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,079,586 Yeomans Nov. 25, 1913 1,215,974 Orem Feb. 13, 1917 1,655,875 Orr "Jan. 10, 1928 2,555,742 Grue June 5, 1951 2,789,661 Brace Apr. 23, 1957 2,799,357 Warnecke July 16, 1957 FOREIGN PATENTS 378,211 France Dec. 9, 1907 (Addition to 8000) a 268,295 ltaly Oct. 10, 192-9 

